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Tag: late show

  • Paul Shaffer to Get Feature Doc Treatment (Exclusive)

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    A feature documentary about Paul Shaffer, best known David Letterman’s longtime sidekick and Late Show bandleader, is in the works.

    The life rights to the story of the musician and TV personality from Thunder Bay, Ontario, who got his start as the musical director of a 1972 Toronto stage production of Godspell, have been acquired for a film to be titled Say Hello to Our Good Friend Paul Shaffer.

    The documentary will be produced by Ballinran Entertainment, Grace Street Media and White Pine Pictures, with a director still to be attached to the project. UTA Independent Film Group came on board to handle world sales after discussions this week at the Toronto Film Festival.

    Also at TIFF this week, Shaffer appeared for the world premiere of the Nick Davis documentary You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution …. That film recounts Shaffer’s first professional gig as part of the hippie musical Godspell alongside fellow breakout talent like Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Jayne Eastwood.

    That stage production with its improvisational comedy opened the way to classic TV series like SCTV and Saturday Night Live. Schaffer was hired as the musical director for Godspell after he made a positive impression on composer Stephen Schwartz when playing the piano for a girlfriend who was auditioning.

    Shaffer joined up with Letterman in 1982 for the launch of Late Night With David Letterman on NBC, leading the World’s Most Dangerous Band. In 1993, he made the move with Letterman to CBS for The Late Show to lead the CBS Orchestra after NBC passed Letterman over for the Tonight Show hosting job in favor of Jay Leno.

    Say Hello to Our Good Friend Paul Shaffer will also recall the musician’s rise with the original Saturday Night Live band (he played the piano when Bill Murray famously sang the Star Wars theme) and collaborations with musical icons like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sly Stone and Ray Charles.

    “I’ve been the luckiest guy in showbiz. I’ve had a front-row seat to music history. This film isn’t just about me. It’s about the soundtrack of our lives, and how music connects, inspires and remembers us,” Shaffer said in a statement.

    The project will be executive produced by Vern Freedlander (Grace Street Media), Craig Thompson (Ballinran Entertainment) and Peter Raymont and Stephen Paniccia (White Pine Pictures). The same execs negotiated the life rights signing deal with Shaffer.

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    Etan Vlessing

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  • Stephen Colbert Sums Up Trump With 5 Brutal Words

    Stephen Colbert Sums Up Trump With 5 Brutal Words

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    “Donald Trump is a fascist,” Colbert said bluntly on Tuesday night’s “Late Show.”

    Trump, he noted, has been echoing the language used by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, such as when he vowed to root out left-wing “vermin” if elected president.

    Colbert came up with a colorful way to describe the need for these reminders of who Trump really is: “It’s important to… metaphorically jam the sharpened stick of knowledge into the soft inner thigh of your mind and just grind it around a little bit to try to reawaken the horror of what our country would be like if this hate-filled dingus and his soulless goons ever get a hold of power again.”

    See more from his Tuesday night monologue:

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  • Stephen Colbert Hits Trump Where It Hurts With Crack About His ‘Tiny’ Parts

    Stephen Colbert Hits Trump Where It Hurts With Crack About His ‘Tiny’ Parts

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    The case is centered around a California man’s attempt to trademark the phrase “Trump Too Small” for use on T-shirts and such, which stemmed from strange campaign moment in 2016.

    Colbert rolled the clip of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), then a Trump rival for the Republican presidential nomination, commenting on Trump’s little hands.

    “And you know what they say about men with small hands,” Rubio quipped.

    Colbert was ready with an answer.

    “Small hands, large chance of driving America to some of its darkest moments since the Civil War,” he said, pausing dramatically before completing his punchline: “to compensate for a tiny penis.”

    The audience howled and Colbert responded with a little dance.

    See more in Wednesday night’s “Late Show” monologue:

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  • Stephen Colbert Gives New GOP Speaker Holy Hell In Epic Biblical Smackdown

    Stephen Colbert Gives New GOP Speaker Holy Hell In Epic Biblical Smackdown

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    “If the Bible is his worldview on any issue, I don’t know why progressives are nervous,” said Colbert. “He’s clearly gonna ask the rich to sell all their possessions and give the money to the poor.”

    Colbert ― a devout Catholic who references his Christian faith often ― then gave Johnson a few other examples of what that worldview would really entail.

    “Being biblically faithful is not easy for a guy from Louisiana ’cuz now he has to give up shrimp, crab, oysters and barbecue pork,” he said. “And I’m sure he’s gonna miss his wife when she has to be cast out of town during the time of her blood, only to be allowed to return when she brings two turtledoves to the tabernacle for the priest to sacrifice.”

    Colbert noted that Johnson has spoken of a literal interpretation of the events in the Bible, including praise for a Noah’s Ark attraction that depicts humans living alongside dinosaurs.

    “Yes, many early humans had dinosaurs as pets ― it’s right there in the book of Hanna-Barbera,” Colbert said, referring to the creators of “The Flintstones” cartoon, then offered up a reading.

    Check it out in Monday night’s “Late Show” monologue:

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  • Stephen Colbert Shows How Ron DeSantis Is Now Getting ‘Publicly Humiliated’

    Stephen Colbert Shows How Ron DeSantis Is Now Getting ‘Publicly Humiliated’

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    Stephen Colbert said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is losing support as he mulls a 2024 presidential run ― and getting “publicly humiliated” in the process.

    “Oh, damn!” Colbert exclaimed. “Ron, are you a history book in Florida? Because you just got burned!”

    In his Thursday night monologue, Colbert showed how DeSantis is on a quest to become “100 percent unlikable”:

    Colbert’s “Late Show” team also mocked DeSantis’ obsession with the word “woke,” turning it into a song parody in which the Florida governor is joined by Rihanna and Drake:

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  • Stephen Colbert Busts Kevin McCarthy For ‘Dumb’ Move In Standoff With Biden

    Stephen Colbert Busts Kevin McCarthy For ‘Dumb’ Move In Standoff With Biden

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    McCarthy sent Biden a letter insisting that he’s “incredibly concerned that you are putting an already fragile economy in jeopardy” with his spending plan.

    “No you’re not!” Colbert fired back. “You know how I know you’re not concerned? Because you expressed your concern in the form of the slowest possible form of communication: a letter.”

    Colbert offered up an example of just how unconcerned that actually is.

    “That’s like saying, ’Oh no! The house is one fire! Quick, someone hire a barber shop quartet to tell the fire department,” he said.

    The “Late Show” did a one-man impression of that quartet in action before getting back to the topic of McCarthy’s “dumb” letter to Biden in his Wednesday night monologue:

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  • Stephen Colbert Gives Lauren Boebert A Hilariously Blunt Geography Lesson

    Stephen Colbert Gives Lauren Boebert A Hilariously Blunt Geography Lesson

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    One example: Comments this week by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), one of the party’s extremists and a conspiracy theorist who this week offered a wild response to a call for better gun control laws.

    “Alcohol, tobacco and firearms,” she declared. “In Western Colorado, we call that a fun weekend.”

    Colbert stepped in with a geography lesson.

    “Don’t get so full of yourself, Western Colorado,” he said. “In Florida, they call that the food pyramid.”

    See more in his Thursday night “Late Show” monologue:

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